A Kiss To Remember
by MidnightSakuraBlossom and SYD
Summary: "W-why did you kiss me?" "We were under the Mistletoe of course !" In which Holy Rome and Italy get caught under a devious Mistletoe and history repeats itself with an unexpected person years later... HRExChibitalia, GermanyxItaly one-shot


**Instead of helping StormofyourDestiny clean the house for the arrival of some of our friends (I'm not a TOTAL slob, I just think cleaning is a bit of a hassle), I was in my bedroom with my laptop listening to love songs while searching and viewing some Holy Roman EmpirexChibitalia fan art. Go ahead, guess how this little one-shot came to be. ;D**

**I guess I really didn't have a motive for writing this. I just know that's getting close to the holidays and I have yet to write an actual Holy RomexChibitalia fic...you get the picture.**

**Oh, and I am fully aware that Chibitalia is a HE. SHE is only being used as description due to Holy Rome's failure at recognizing his gender. Oh, and as an afterthought, please beware of possible OOC moments and probable inaccurate historical themes. Just for fun, there is even a little Germany=HRE moment at the end, so enjoy~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia Axis Powers...for me, this is depressing. But for the fellow fans out there in the world, this is for the best. *Shrinks into the darkest corner of the room***

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_**A Kiss To Remember**_

_**Written By: Yours truly, MidnightSakuraBlossom Proofread By: Her best friend, StormofyourDestiny**_

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_Oh my God...how did this happen to me? What do I do? Ah! She's looking right at me, my heart feels like it's going to explode from my chest! S-stay calm, you can handle this..._

The rest of the Holy Roman Empire's thoughts became reduced to utterly nonsensical, scrambled, _panic mode_. He couldn't believe that he got trapped underneath that...that...that mocking tiny piece of Mistletoe hanging from the tall ceilings of the main hallway in Austria's house. Not only that, but a certain Italian maid was underneath it as well staring at him curiously.

_Holy crap._

How had this happened? How did the personification of Italy and the personification of the Holy Roman Empire get caught underneath a rather deviously-placed, beautifully decorated piece of Mistletoe? Let's take a moment for a flashback, shall we?

Well this may be all linked back to earlier that morning. Hungary, Italy, and the other servants were bustling back and forth in preparation for Christmas. Most of the entire day was spent spreading ever inch of the house with gorgeous decorations and tasty treats being cooked up. It was quite a blur to say the least. For Holy Rome, his day was rather uninteresting because he didn't have anything planned.

So he wandered the house in search of something, he had almost made his way to Austria's room when he immediately ran and peeked behind one of the large walls, his cool being shot and killed a thousand times over at seeing his, ahem, crush giggling with glee as she admired the garnet she had finished hanging over the ceiling and walls.

He just couldn't keep his cool around her, not at all. For a moment, Holy Rome briefly felt his heart skip some beats as he hid and stalked, ahem, _watched_ the beautiful tiny girl. Her happiness radiated and really did good for the atmosphere, if only he had the chance to tell her that. If only he could gather the courage to even make his presence to her known. But...he couldn't be bold when it came to her, he just couldn't.

"_Oh? Who's there?_" Italy had asked in a confused tone of voice, slowly craning her head. Holy Rome silently gasped, as she must have felt his very, very lustful and heavy stare on her.

And once she turned fully to see if anyone was behind her, Holy Rome was already long gone outside to hopefully cool the scorching flames in his cheeks and scold himself for being such an idiot.

For the rest of the afternoon, Holy Rome continued with his stalker antics and watched Italy decorate the other side of the home with the help of Hungary (Austria had one hell of a huge residence, did he not?). He would disguise his presence and smile dreamily as he watched the Italian girl hum random little tunes and spread some cheer among the house. There was no doubt that he was hopelessly...utterly hopelessly smitten with her at this point.

Realizing that last fact, Holy Rome instantly went borderline _panic mode_. If he was so smitten with her, he was definitely in love and there was absolutely no way that he could continue to live in the same house as her. How could he still manage to hide his feelings until he could finally muster the courage to confess such a thing? That would be so challenging, considering how he wanted to be strong but when it came to Italy...he was just a clumsy, lovesick idiot?

Once night fell, the decorations and meals were all prepared. All of the staff was tired but in a good way for once. Dinner was served at it's usual time and even Italy got a chance to pig out like the glutton she was – something that Hungary had done by pulling some strings with Austria. Speaking of Hungary, she took notice at dinner how cutely nervous Holy Rome was as he was sitting opposite Italy (again, the Hungarian played the role of the puppet master pulling the strings).

This sparked her interest. For one thing, Hungary was fully aware of the very intense crush that Holy Rome harbored, although she tried to not make that so painfully clear to the two tiny nations. Which reminded her that she forgot to put up the most special decoration: a very conveniently-hung Mistletoe in the halls. Where the two would simply have to meet underneath and she could sit back with some pastries and coo over the result. How wonderfully devious~

Courtesy of Miss Hungary, the Mistletoe now hung somewhat low from the ceiling over a golden, sparkly thread. The plant itself was just mocking Holy Rome with it's green leafs decorated with tiny red sparkles.

He could just _die_ right now.

It was fairly obvious that she may have had some part in the Mistletoe hanging right in the middle of the hall. Holy Rome and Italy happened to be passing through from two different directions by a total guess of fate and didn't notice, until they bumped into each other and just happened to gaze up at what hung above them.

Which brings us back to the present. They had been standing there for several seconds now and it was really silent and kind of embarrassing for them as this type of situation hadn't risen before. Holy Rome stood there blushing furiously and panicking inwardly, while Italy occasionally swayed and kept her gaze to the expensive carpet beneath her feet blushing as well.

"Um...this is kind of convenient." Italy finally murmured, softly giggling afterward as this was quite an interesting situation. And very fortunate for her, because of what would come next from being together underneath the Mistletoe.

"I-Italy, I was...I was just...ah..." _Calm down, just calm down, make a proper sentence for once! _"Ummm...I was going back to my room. If you'll excuse me, I must-"  
>"But wait," Italy quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist once he tried to advance in the opposite direction. Immediately, Holy Rome stopped dead in his tracks and his heart fluttered. "I have been looking for you between work today, Holy Rome! Don't leave just yet."<p>

"But this isn't..." Holy Rome's sapphire eyes traveled up to the mocking piece of Mistletoe perfectly above their heads, and nervously back to Italy's beautiful smiling face. "Um...this isn't a very appropriate setting to speak in..."

Italy giggled and shook her head in a disagreeing manner. "No, it's actually very perfect~!"

"P-perfect...?" Needless to say, Holy Rome did not get to complete that question. After he got the first word out, he immediately found Italy coming very uncomfortably close and grabbing his shoulders firmly. Within seconds, there was a soft pair of lips pressed against his own.

Once again, _holy crap_.

She was...she was actually...Italy just kissed him...! The kiss was rather innocent considering she wasn't sure how far to go hear with it being one underneath the Mistletoe maybe out of tradition. And Holy Rome wasn't returning it at first, seeing as though his body had just tensed up and it felt like his heart was near exploding from his chest.

Heartbeat pounding at dangerous speeds, body temperature soaring which seemed like it would never end, and his body being too stunned to react. Holy Rome wasn't sure what to do now, but he knew that something had to be before he did something totally embarrassing like lose consciousness!

Italy almost gave up, not really receiving any response and she almost assumed that she had done something wrong or was being too forward with her actions. She couldn't help it, she had been developing a crush on the young empire after all this time and after noticing how conveniently placed this Mistletoe was...wait a minute! He was actually kissing back and she could feel his tiny arms encircle her waist!

Neither of the two had any experience with kissing before. This one lasted for several seconds until they came back to earth and regained awareness of how prolonged this had become. At just about the same time, Holy Rome and Italy broke the kiss and the latter's eyes widened and a blush exploded over his face at realization of his actions and their intimate position.

Even if it was sort of awkward, neither wanted to leave the position to be honest. Just standing there underneath the devious Mistletoe and staring right at the other as if they were the only two people counting in existence. It was a strange feeling that just...it was difficult to put into words.

"W-why did you kiss me?" Italy tilted her head to the side in confusion, what did he mean by that? Didn't he know the tradition or was he just caught off guard? "I mean...uhh..."

Italy giggled. "We were under the Mistletoe of course~!" Once her giggles ceased, she thought for a moment and glanced away, her chubby cheeks began to light up a bright red and it was all too cute. "Holy Rome, whoever stands underneath the Mistletoe get to kiss. And well...Miss Hungary told me once that those people like each other."

_I knew that...W-WAIT! 'like each other'...! _The blush returned to the tiny empire's cheeks, perhaps much more intense than what it had been previously and his hands retreated from the maid's waist as if they had been burned by fire.

"I didn't expect to get caught underneath the Mistletoe with anyone to be honest. But...I'm glad that it was you, Holy Rome. And, um, I guess now would be a good time to tell you what I wanted to tell you earlier..." Italy fumbled with her words momentarily, it was just so cute and it totally caught Holy Rome off by it. Why did she have to distract him so easily? "Mr. Austria told me after dinner that since I've done so much work lately with the Christmas preparations, he was allowing me to have the day off tomorrow."

All of a sudden, Italy's face lit with hope and she came closer once again and grasped Holy Rome's hands. His hands that he hoped to God weren't sweating from the nervousness. "Would you like to spend the day together tomorrow? Maybe out of the house?"

"Do you mean...on a date?"

"Yes! I want to make this year memorable and since I lost the courage to make a suggestion like this last year, I don't want any regrets."

Was she really asking him out on a date? Was this _seriously happening _and not some very teasing dream of his? Well, this was a dream, he certainly didn't want to awaken any time soon. He contemplated whether this was reality or a dreamworld built upon his own feelings and desires...but paused at last and found the words inside his head that were once lost after reaching the tip of his tongue.

Trying with all of his strength not to cower back, Holy Rome took a deep breath inwardly and said with much honesty, "I would love to go on a date with you." _More than you'll ever know, Italy..._

"Yay~! I can't wait for tomorrow~!" Italy practically sang with joy as she spun around on the tips of her toes. She honestly didn't know what kind of response she would receive, but honestly, she was totally fine with this one and felt happiness well up inside her and just all burst out.

"I know I can't wait." Holy Rome murmured, still having his head up in the clouds. This was supposed to be a thought, not actually voiced, he was just too lost to even realize that.

All of a sudden, Italy came closer for the third time and clasped her hands together, leaning in a planting a small kiss on the empire's cheek, which caused him to immediately snap back to reality and freeze up in surprise. He probably wouldn't ever be able to get used to unexpected kisses from Italy, apparently.

And just as soon as she made it down the hall and they had this whole conversation, and kiss beneath the Mistletoe, Italy practically skipped down the hall to another part of the house all while babbling happily about how she couldn't wait for tomorrow.

Still, even after several seconds ticked by, Holy Rome stood there almost rooted to the spot beneath the Mistletoe, eyes wide, and a shaky hand reaching up to touch his tingling lips and then his burning cheek. He almost outwardly questioned what had just happened, but stopped after watching a thrilled Italy skip around the corner as if on cloud nine and his lips began to twitch and try to form a smile.

For some reason, he realized that Christmas was now one of his favorite times of the year. But that was his last thought before he sighed dreamily and just about stumbled all the way back to his room, there, he would unleash all of his happiness in private and prepare for him and Italy's date the next day...

_**/.../.../.../.../.../**_

Italy yawned loudly and stretched his arms high above his head. The Italian man had such a great dream involving pasta, an art museum, Grandpa Rome, and he could have sworn that the Leaning Tower of Pisa had made an appearance somewhere in there...

Oh well, it was wonderful anyway. Just like every other dream that he had every night! He was almost doubtful about being able to get a good night's sleep since Germany had caught him sleeping in his bed once again and insisted in his strict tone of voice that he should stop doing such a thing that brought along unfortunate implications on _so many_ levels and made it clear that he should remain in his own bed in the guest room.

Honestly...Italy liked sleeping with Germany because it gave him this warm feeling of security that he had a bedfellow – extra points for that bedfellow being the man that he was crazy about! That made it all the more better!

He hoped to smooth over that unfortunate incident the previous night. After all, if Italy was looking at his nearby calender correctly, today was Christmas! Certainly, Germany wouldn't be able to say mad on Christmas after he received the surprise that he was going to be given in place of a gift (damn declines in Euro stocks)!

The morning went on normally, Italy got out of bed and showered and dressed and met Germany, whom had already been prepared for the day like five hours ago in the kitchen with breakfast, and the two nations ate in relative silence. And the topic of the holiday wasn't brought up, this confused Italy because he usually would at least make some form of remark...

What Italy didn't know was that Germany had a very odd dream the night before; one that left him with so many questions that he couldn't comprehend. It all seemed so vivid, and yet quite a blur. In this dream there was this large house decorated for Christmas – it was Austria's house. And in the dream, he saw a young boy whom looked very identical to himself kissing a girl...whom looked _exactly_ like a younger Italy in a dress. After the kiss, some words were exchanged but he couldn't quite catch it now. This really provoked much thought about what that was all about; and could that have been...him and Italy?

The most appropriate action would be to confront Italy and ask him about this. If he could recall a time when he was younger and kissed a boy whom most likely _just happened _to resemble him. Because Germany didn't recall anything of his past, all he knew was that he was the personification of, well, Germany and always had been; that's what he was told by Prussia at least. But this was sort of...embarrassing. What if it really was him and he just couldn't remember ever being that other person? Or what if Italy got the wrong idea and incorrectly assumed he was this long lost 'first love' of his?

Thinking about this was giving him quite the headache. Unable to focus on breakfast, Germany sighed aloud and pushed the plate away. Perhaps if he were to just take a long walk around the town, he could forget about this strange dream he had and stop linking it to all of those other strange mental pictures of the same two characters.

Once Germany arose from the table, Italy quickly followed suit and just about skipped to his side smiling. "Ve~ Germany, do you remember what today is? Do you?" Obviously, by the blank and unreadable expression, Germany didn't have the slightest idea. So Italy quickly answered for him, "It's Christmas! I thought that maybe we could take a day off together and...take a walk and admire the scenery and talk, and go shopping, and have lunch together!"

Oh that's right...being so lost in his dream and other random moments of strange and distant mental pictures, the day slipped his mind. Seeing as though Italy was looking up at him with a typically joyful and hopeful expression, how could Germany possibly refuse that offer? Pfft- yeah, like he ever could refuse it, but Italy didn't need to know this...

"It's Christmas? I forgot about that..."

"Ve? How could you possibly forget?"

"I just..." Germany trailed off nervously, slipping out of Italy's hold and making his way to the door in the kitchen which acted as the backdoor. "Uh, forget it. There's many things on my mind right now, I must have forgotten."

"I understand..." Italy trailed off as well, briefly sounding somewhat sad. But it was so brief and almost unnoticed once he broke out into a smile once again to hide it and walked over to Germany. "But anyway, we can still spend the day together!"  
>Germany could have sworn that his lips tried to betray him and form a smile. Damn emotions. "Yes, that sounds good. But you should stay close by and don't wander off into the crowds getting lost again."<p>

"I'll try not to get lost..." Those words were spoken uncertainly, Germany rolled his eyes. How many times had he turned around to find Italy no longer at his side and either surrounded by a group girls, a totally different country, or the other side of town and he would have to try to bring him back? "Oh well, I know that Germany will look for me anyway~!"

The strangest thing happened after that, something that Germany was not expecting _at all_: Italy began to come closer and closer in a manner that could only be described as lustfully. He then beckoned for a bewildered Germany to lean somewhat lower, despite surprised, Germany did and that was when Italy closed the distance altogether and kissed him straight on the lips.

_WHAT. THE. HELL?_

To be honest, Germany was too stunned to even react to this. It felt like some sort of jolt had gone down his spine, the only thing that he could hear was his own heartbeat ringing in his ears and he was pretty sure that he had just hitched a ride onto cloud nine.

In a normal situation he would have loved to return the kiss. But the surprise was too great and he couldn't move, though his eyes closed in pleasure.

Just as soon as it happened, the kiss ended and yet the two remained in their positions. Both blushing quite intensely and locking eyes. For the both of them, this really resurfaced some memories – memories that were perhaps no different than the other.

"W...why did you kiss me, Italy?" Germany finally asked, too stunned to really make disguise the well, surprise of his actions. He knew that he man could be very rash with things considering how every Italian that he ever encountered in his life was like this.

Joyfully giggling, Italy simply responded and gestured in an upwards motion. "Ve, We were under the Mistletoe of course~!"

Why did those words ring a bell? Well, in any case, Germany stared in bewilderment and his eyes traveled up to see the rather deviously-placed Mistletoe placed hanging from a sparkly golden-colored string hanging from the doorway. Oh God.

He suddenly realized who the two kids in that dream were...and why he always remembered that same scene every Christmas...

_**The End~**_

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**Italy so put that Mistletoe over the doorway just to kiss Germany. Well, like the saying goes, history repeats itself~! *Nudge nudge wink wink***

**I have absolutely no idea why I'm in a Christmas-y mood. God, it's so unlike myself. Well anyway, I hope that you liked the little one-shot nevertheless and commentary is appreciated of course!**

**Happy Holidays! And, as for me, I wouldn't mind getting a little early gift of reviews! *Hint hint***

**~MidnightSakuraBlossom**


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